LPL Financial LLC Buys 19,525 Shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 19.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 120,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,525 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.21% of Nordson worth $25,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Nordson by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 7,314 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,530,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Nordson by 26.1% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. increased its position in Nordson by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 3,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $692,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Nordson by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $884,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Nordson by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,493 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 72.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on NDSN shares. Loop Capital raised shares of Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $237.00 price objective (down from $294.00) on shares of Nordson in a research note on Friday, December 13th. BNP Paribas downgraded Nordson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $219.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Baird R W cut Nordson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price objective on Nordson from $295.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $256.20.

Nordson Price Performance

NASDAQ:NDSN opened at $200.46 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $213.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $232.12. The firm has a market cap of $11.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.50, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.92. Nordson Co. has a one year low of $196.83 and a one year high of $279.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.53.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.08 by ($0.02). Nordson had a return on equity of 19.28% and a net margin of 16.93%. The company had revenue of $615.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $639.40 million. Research analysts expect that Nordson Co. will post 10.2 EPS for the current year.

Nordson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Nordson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.69%.

Insider Activity at Nordson

In other news, EVP Stephen Lovass sold 1,299 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.79, for a total transaction of $268,620.21. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,519,286.13. This represents a 15.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Nordson Profile

Nordson Corporation engineers, manufactures, and markets products and systems to dispense, apply, and control adhesives, coatings, polymers, sealants, biomaterials, and other fluids worldwide. It operates through three segments: Industrial Precision Solutions; Medical and Fluid Solutions; and Advanced Technology Solutions.